


All Different Kinds of Spicy.

by DryDreams



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, McHanzo Week, McHanzo Week 2017, also implied shenanigans, cooking AU boysssssss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-19
Updated: 2017-06-19
Packaged: 2018-11-16 01:27:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11243445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DryDreams/pseuds/DryDreams
Summary: Mchanzo Week Day 2 prompt: Alternate UniverseOh boy, another cooking AU! In which they are culinary school students who really, really like each other and Jesse has a super original idea.





	All Different Kinds of Spicy.

For as long as he could remember, Jesse McCree's dream had been to start a restaurant. He'd been baking cookies at five, acing beef wellington at nine, and tried to start a Youtube cooking show at sixteen. The last thing didn't work out so great. Believe it or not, no one on the internet wanted to see a scrawny kid in a cowboy hat make baked Alaska. Culinary school did though, and soon enough he was on the fast-track to the dream life. 

Well, that's what he had thought. Until it was the last semester of his final year, he had fifteen different documents on his desktop on the subject of eggs, no clean laundry, and no ideas.

He'd been in this slump for a couple weeks now. It had occurred to him that although he knew quite a bit about cuts of beef, he knew jack shit about starting a business. His job at the fancy hipster joint in town wasn't so bad, but he didn’t want to do that forever. He had to have his own, someday. To have a place where he could create and share his ideas and where he didn't have to make weird deconstructed spaghetti dishes. He didn't understand those at all. 

It would of course be a process measured in years, not months. But graduation was looming and he was feeling pressured to come up with a more specific life goal. He was all of a sudden irrationally afraid that if he didn’t start planning, it would never happen at all. So, in the middle of a class that he really should have gotten out of the way three years ago, he made the decision. He was going to do it. Get the funds, get the experience...get someone who knew how to manage shit. All he needed now was a concept. He could see himself trying a myriad of things, but you can’t exactly have a restaurant that serves everything. He’d always been fond of good old southwestern cooking, but that was too easy. Couldn’t stand French, it was expensive and way too complicated for it’s own good-- or anyone’s, really. Italian was good, he could do Italian...but he wasn’t feeling anything for Italian. There were plenty of Moms out there home-cooking Italian with more love than he ever could, so that was out. He had always been intrigued by the flavors in Caribbean food but he didn’t think he was quite brave enough to take that on. What was he going to cook? _Shit_.

This was what he was still contemplating that night--lounging on the couch in his underwear and eating leftover custard he had snuck home from his midterm--when his boyfriend Hanzo quietly opened the door and slipped inside. 

Jesse watched as he gently started taking groceries out of a paper bag and putting them on the counter. His hair was up in a crazy, intricate braid today, which meant that he had been studying with Hana. It looked real nice. 

Hanzo and he had crossed paths in their second year when they were both taking an introductory class on Japanese cuisine. Jesse had been struggling with the professor’s teaching style, and Hanzo was notably the smartest person in the class. Or at least he aced every assignment. He also spoke to his friend Satya often about how he "didn't understand why he needed to take this class because his knowledge of the subject was already far superior to the instructors having had plenty of beyond the basic training back home blah blah blah.” 

His voice carried. He was also real pretty, and Jesse wasn't one to let an opportunity like that slip by without at least trying to catch it.

So he had approached Hanzo after class and jumped right in.

"Hanzo! My dude, buddy, pal! How are you?"

The man had shot him a sideways glance and continued to pack his bag. "I am none of those things. Do you need something?"

"Uhhhhhh. Ha-ha okay, well. I was just wondering, I'm havin a bit of trouble in this class and since you're so knowledgeable and everything..."

“No.”

Jesse was not deterred. “I haven’t even asked anything yet!”

Hanzo glared at him. “I know you are going to ask me to do all your work for you, and I will not.”

Okay, now that one got to him a little bit. He crossed his arms defensively. “Look here, I was only tryin’ to ask if you would be willin’ to help me study because I know you’re the best in the class. You don’t have to be so presumptuous.”

The man had the decency to look slightly apologetic for just a moment. Only for a moment, though, before he collected himself and fixed his consistently cold facial expression. Jesse was about to be a little more angry but remembered that he didn’t want to fuck this up yet, and took a deep breath. 

“Do people ask you to do papers for them a lot, man? Because that’s real shitty. I’m sorry.”

The other man’s face softened again, a little. “Yes. But it is no matter. I will not allow them to shirk their responsibilities, at least not with my assistance.”

Jesse nodded. “That’s good of ya. Really though, I ain’t about cheatin’. I just figured you could help me out a little bit. Always did do better with a study partner.”

Hanzo seemed to contemplate this for a minute and gave Jesse a once over, as if sizing him up. “Alright.” he finally conceded. “But if you are any less than diligent I reserve the right to leave you to your own devices. Give me your phone.” He held out a hand expectantly.

Jesse raised an eyebrow and grinned, punching in the password to his phone and handing it over. The other man quickly found what he was looking for and typed something in then handed it back. “This is my contact information. Tuesdays and Thursdays are good.”

Then he practically swept out of the room. Jesse resisted the urge to whistle as he watched him leave and looked at his phone. _Shimada Hanzo_. There was a number and an email. Well, that was easier than he thought it was going to be. What was he getting himself into? 

He was surprised that Hanzo had given him the freedom of texting first, and he waited three days just to be safe. 

With the exception of a slightly rocky start--Hanzo had somewhat of a tough shell to crack--Jesse had aced the class and it had all kind of been downhill from there.

Now they had been together for almost three years, and Jesse regularly considered how he must be the luckiest man alive. Besides being the prettiest thing from here to Santa Fe, his boyfriend was a genius in the kitchen. Also just in life, generally. He figured it would be smart to consult his better half on possible solutions to his problem. Why he hadn’t yet, he had no idea.

"Hey Han, what kind of restaurant should I have?"

The other man jumped noticeably at his words and then turned to the couch, eyes a little wide. 

"Jesse! I assumed you were sleeping!”

Jesse blinked. “Well why would you think that darlin’?”

“...because you are sitting in the dark with the television off?"

“...Oh. Nah, I’ve just been thinkin."

"Is that so?" Hanzo came around the edge of the couch and stood next to Jesse's hip, the light from the kitchen making his eyes sparkle. Jesse put down the custard and made grabby motions which his boyfriend indulged, gracefully folding down on top of his lap. "And you can not have your pants impeding your thinking process?"

"Mm." Jesse slipped strong arms around Hanzo’s waist and mouthed at his shoulder through the thin shirt he was wearing. "Nope, can't have that."

Hanzo tugged on one of Jesse’s hands, bringing it to his face and pressing soft kisses to the knuckles. "What kind of food do you like to make best?"

"Oh gee, I don't know. I'll always have a soft spot for Latino home cookin’. But that's nothin’ special, there's plenty of good southwestern food places. I want to be unique, ya know? I don't wanna limit myself to one food genre."

"Yes. I understand." 

"You know what though?"

"Hmm?" Hanzo was still preoccupied with Jesse’s hands, currently doing something very distracting with his mouth.

"I got a hankerin’ for somethin else right now." 

"Is that so?" He sucked on the middle finger and then bit down lightly.

Jesse gasped quietly and then growled, biting the shoulder he had been kissing a little less lightly. "Your hair looks real fancy in that up-do and I really want to muss it all up."

"Jesse.” Hanzo spoke, feigning innocence. “I was going to cook dinner."

“Dinner can wait.”

~~

Jesse was turning Hanzo’s hand over and over in his own, tracing the face of the blue dragon tattoo he now knew by heart. He laced their fingers together, admiring how Hanzo’s, pale and dainty, looked against his own tan ones. Then it hit him.

“Holy shit, I’ve got it.”

Hanzo made a questioning noise and looked up at him, hair now properly down and mussed and sticking a little to his cheek. He looked so damn good after sex. During, too… most all the time actually. Jesse was getting off track. 

“We’ll make a Mexican-Japanese fusion place. With sushi and everything!”

His boyfriend stared at him. “You can’t make sushi.”

“You can though. Remember that crazy fish taco thing with wasabi we made that one time? And the tamale themed ramen! Well, that one might not be for everyone but I sure thought it was good.”

Hanzo sat up, mostly just so he could move his hands around while he talked. There was a bite mark turning purple on his shoulder. He was so cute. “You’re not seriously considering we do this now? We have not even graduated, Jesse. Despite our talents, no one would take us seriously, and… wait.” he stopped cold and a tiny smile appeared on his face. “You want me to be a part of your restaurant?”

“Well, course we can’t do it right away. But we gotta plan ahead, right?”

“Jesse.” He was suddenly very serious. “You really want me to do this with you?”

“Well...yeah?” Jesse responded, somewhat concerned at his partner’s reaction. “Course I do honeybunch, you’re kind of a prodigy. Also, I love you. You got any other long-term future plans?”

“I guess not. You--” Hanzo bit his lip. “Do you really think we will still be together?”

“Well.” Jesse was taken slightly aback by this question but had no reservations about what his answer was. “I guess maybe that’s what I’m askin you, darlin’.”

“I-- I do. I hope that we will be.” he lay back down, resting his head on Jesse’s chest. “I love you too.”

There was silence for a good long moment and despite what had already been said Hanzo briefly started to worry that he had given the wrong answer. Then Jesse chuckled.

“So should I just buy the ring now, or what?”

**Author's Note:**

> Notes: Hello friends and family and potential suitors! I have finally contributed to my current fandom, and it's a miracle. 
> 
> Thank you a million times to Jenna for reading and fixing and being generally swell. Thank you AMBER for inspiring me with your country music sushi adventure. 
> 
> Also, if you follow me on twitter @Ukelelerapgirl I will be funny and nice, I promise. Enjoy


End file.
